Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists successfully demonstrate the use of personalised AI-generated characters to improve users\u2019 future life choices<\/p>\n
Imagine yourself decades into the future. Have you thought about the person you want to be? Go ahead, have a conversation with your older, wiser self, you never know what sage counsel awaits! How, you ask?<\/p>\n
A team of AI scientists led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) built Future You, a web-based platform enabling you to chat with a personalised version of an older you aged between 60 and 70. Based on information you provide about future goals and personal qualities, advanced AI is used to create a realistic conversation partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to promote long-term thinking and behaviour change,\u201d co-lead author Pat Pataranutaporn, Future You project member at MIT\u2019s Media Lab, told \u2018The Guardian\u2019. \u201cThis could motivate people to make wiser choices in the present that optimise for their long-term wellbeing and life outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
This AI chatbot is grounded on research recently presented in a paper. The MIT scientists conducted a study that involved 344 participants. Results showed that after interacting with their Future You character for about 30 minutes, they were less anxious and felt a stronger bond with their future selves. Findings indicate how the virtual self can improve an individual\u2019s sense of future self-continuity \u2013 how connected a person feels with their future self \u2013 and overall wellbeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a real time machine yet, but AI can be a type of virtual time machine. We can use this simulation to help people think more about the consequences of the choices they are making today,\u201d added Pataranutaporn in a news release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system makes the simulation very realistic. Future You is much more detailed than what a person could come up with by just imagining their future selves,\u201d explained study co-author Pattie Maes, professor of media technology at MIT.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can imagine Future You as a story search space. You have a chance to hear how some of your experiences, which may still be emotionally charged for you now, could be metabolized over the course of time,\u201d added co-lead author and Harvard University undergraduate Peggy Yin.<\/p>\n
But just how accurate is Future You? The website offers this answer: \u201c[It] cannot predict specific details about your future life\u2013rather, it aims to paint a vivid and realistic picture of what your future life could be like. Our goal is to help illuminate future pathways that may otherwise seem ambiguous, uncertain, or unclear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team is collecting the data from the survey responses and the conversations to carry out more research. The objective is to improve Future You and better understand how people are using it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to become dependent on this tool. Rather, we hope it is a meaningful experience that helps them see themselves and the world differently, and helps with self-development,\u201d concluded Maes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists successfully demonstrate the use of personalised AI-generated characters to improve users\u2019 future life choices Imagine yourself decades into the future. Have you thought about the person you want to be? Go ahead, have a conversation with your older, wiser self, you never know what sage counsel awaits! How, you ask?\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_scj_primary_category_id":130,"_scj_featured":true,"_scj_featured_from":"","_scj_featured_until":"","_scj_featured_order":211,"_scj_visibility_class":"current","_scj_layout_family":"standard","_scj_article_style":"","_scj_display_overrides":[],"_scj_intro_image_id":19079,"_scj_intro_alt":"Want to talk to your much older self?","_scj_intro_caption":"","_scj_intro_class":"","_scj_intro_float":"","_scj_full_image_id":19079,"_scj_full_alt":"Want to talk to your much older self?","_scj_full_caption":"","_scj_full_class":"","_scj_full_float":"","_scj_media_type":"","_scj_media_provider":"","_scj_media_external_id":"","_scj_media_url":"","_scj_media_poster_id":0,"_scj_media_width":0,"_scj_media_height":0,"_scj_media_aspect_ratio":"","_scj_media_description":"","_scj_gallery_items":[],"_scj_related_post_ids":[],"_scj_additional_authors":[],"scj_layout_family":"standard","scj_media_provider":"","scj_media_url":"","scj_full_caption":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n